We are now delivering faster broadband services into Glaston. We have unbundled the Uppingham exchange but Glaston premises are still too far away to benefit from fast broadband. Our initial plans involved installing our own equipment in a street cabinet in the village then using existing BT Openreach copper lines to premises with a fibre-optic link back to Uppingham (subloop unbundling). BT Openreach said this was not possible due to limitations within their network.
We half-expected this response so whilst waiting for a formal response from BT, we were running tests delivering a service into the centre of the village using wireless. These tests were very successful and we can now deliver broadband speeds up to 20Mbps - up to 40x faster than most Glaston premises are currently receiving via all other providers (who all use BT Wholesale in the Uppingham exchange). Contention ratios are also much reduced.
In the event of power loss, you will not be able to make phone calls over our network, however a battery backup device is available as an optional extra. Broadband is £30/month for speeds up to 20Mbps and phone rental. Call charges are on our home page.
By transferring to Rutland Telecom, greater reliability can be expected as our system completely bypasses the BT copper network - many Glaston residents have experienced problems with ADSL broadband apparently due to a combination of poor quality copper and the distance from Glaston to Uppingham. After heavy periods of rainfall, the service deteriorates presumably due to water seeping into the copper ducting. Over time we expect the large ugly and cluttered BT poles to become redundant
To receive broadband over wireless a small receiver box is installed on your existing TV aerial or on your house wall. Line of sight is required to one of our transmitting masts. A standard network cable connects to a wall socket inside the premises (which we install). To this socket, any device with a network port can be connected (switch, wireless access point, PC, laptop, VoIP phone etc.). Images of the equipment can be seen here.. Standard installation fee is £65 which allows up to 1 hour - more complex installations will cost more. If your building is listed then you will need planning permission.
